Simplifying Inductive Schemes in Temporal Logic

In propositional temporal logic, the combination of the connectives “tomorrow” and “always in the future” require the use of induction tools. In this paper, we present a classification of inductive schemes for propositional linear temporal logic that allows the detection of loops in decision procedures. In the design of automatic theorem provers, these schemes are responsible for the searching of efficient solutions for the detection and management of loops. We study which of these schemes have a good behavior in order to give a set of reduction rules that allow us to compute these schemes efficiently and, therefore, be able to eliminate these loops. These reduction laws can be applied previously and during the execution of any automatic theorem prover. All the reductions introduced in this paper can be considered a part of the process for obtaining a normal form of a given formula. 2012 ACM Subject Classification Theory of computation → Modal and temporal logics